REALLY BIG LIGHT <RBL> Mod with pixels

In the Xlights tips topic we started talking about the Really Big Lights (RBLs). They are cool 14" tall light bulbs. They come with a C9 inside but they come alive when you modify them with RGBs. I am working on a demo for the Feb 11th TASL to show these with several different modifications added. So we can compare what they look like with more and different LEDs. Of all the solutions I have seen, it appears that the rectangular pixels could end up being the best solution. But I only have the 3-LED rectangles in Dumb RGB form.

Does anyone have some rectangular pixels like these ? I would like to get at least a dozen .. maybe 20 soon so I can have the demos ready by Feb 11th. I'll be placing orders for more of these pixels, so I'll get yours replaced .. Or I'll pay you for them. Either way is fine. Here's the video I am talking about. But I think more than 4 rectangles will be better ! These suckers need to glow good .. like a lightbulb !

Here's the other two. This first one is nice clean engineering but the round pixel is still only 6 5050 LEDs. Each rectangle is already 3 5050 LEDs, so the above video is twice the light power as this one .. and still nowhere near strong for what I want.

Then there's the guy who made his with 7 pixel string nodes. This one could also be very nicely lit, and you could probably get more in there. But you lose the ability to do pixel tricks inside to create a better look. So this one could be dumb or smart rectangles.

Now that you have seen all three good solutions .. I think having 6 rectangles (18 LEDs) or even 8 rectangles (24 LEDs) will really make these lights POP ! If I can get some rectangle pixels then I can show everyone on Feb 11th. I'll bring a bunch of different examples (i hope) ..

Re: REALLY BIG LIGHT <RBL> Mod with pixels

Im not sure thats exactly how much lead wire id need, but this setup would let me daisy-chain them as far as 4m from each other.... which is probably overkill.
I may reduce that to 1m of lead wire on each end, but at least this gives you the idea.

For that modest of a price adder, I will absolutely buy these ready-made from Ray (once we figure out what works best).

Re: REALLY BIG LIGHT <RBL> Mod with pixels

Originally Posted by scottmcl

Question - are they dumb or smart? Can I rotate colors around the bulb within them?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The ones I had quoted are standard Ws2811 smart pixels- so you could do any tricks you like.
I was thinking the exact opposite! I would almost prefer to treat the 5 (or however many) pixels as a single logical pixel for simplicity sake. i think I *can* do this in the falconer controller...need to research...

Im not sure thats exactly how much lead wire id need, but this setup would let me daisy-chain them as far as 4m from each other.... which is probably overkill.
I may reduce that to 1m of lead wire on each end, but at least this gives you the idea.

For that modest of a price adder, I will absolutely buy these ready-made from Ray (once we figure out what works best).

That's a good price considering it's ready to attach and done. And getting the soldering done in China leaves them all nicely sealed ! But I see a couple things that we should discuss. At least for me.

1. Turns out with 5 rectangles, then one of the wires will have to end up at the top of the PVC pipe. I am going to LOWES today to get some PVC parts to play with. I will consider 6 or 8 rectangles but not an odd number. Actually with 4 there is room for the wire but it would still need to be glued down or somehow held from moving out. But I am very worried about 4 pixels being too dull. I'm going to try adding 3/4" PVC to the lights end of the pipe with an adapter. I would be super quick and at least 6 lights should be better (and not have the issue of the wire crossing the pixels).

2. 2M of wire at each end is way too much. I want mine to be no more than 3 ft apart and maybe slightly closer. So 1M is still too big considering each wire goes half way to the next RBL. I think having .66 meter for each wire ends up great, even including enough for the inside of the RBL. That size will allow each RBL to be one meter apart. Having even 1M wires would get the RBLs almost two meters apart. For me that is still too much wire to deal with on the outside. I want them to hang nice and having some wire showing should be a good part of the "charm" of having giant light bulbs !

Originally Posted by Paul Lowe

The ones I had quoted are standard Ws2811 smart pixels- so you could do any tricks you like.
I was thinking the exact opposite! I would almost prefer to treat the 5 (or however many) pixels as a single logical pixel for simplicity sake. i think I *can* do this in the falconer controller...need to research...

Virtually all controlers can group them. But in Xlights you can have a grouped and ungrouped definitions. So the grouped for quicker sequencing and the ungrouped for some effects. I think it might have been Eric who already mentioned this. Or I read it on one of the forums.

Re: REALLY BIG LIGHT <RBL> Mod with pixels

Originally Posted by kidcole

That's a good price considering it's ready to attach and done. And getting the soldering done in China leaves them all nicely sealed ! But I see a couple things that we should discuss. At least for me.

1. Turns out with 5 rectangles, then one of the wires will have to end up at the top of the PVC pipe. I am going to LOWES today to get some PVC parts to play with. I will consider 6 or 8 rectangles but not an odd number. Actually with 4 there is room for the wire but it would still need to be glued down or somehow held from moving out. But I am very worried about 4 pixels being too dull. I'm going to try adding 3/4" PVC to the lights end of the pipe with an adapter. I would be super quick and at least 6 lights should be better (and not have the issue of the wire crossing the pixels).

2. 2M of wire at each end is way too much. I want mine to be no more than 3 ft apart and maybe slightly closer. So 1M is still too big considering each wire goes half way to the next RBL. I think having .66 meter for each wire ends up great, even including enough for the inside of the RBL. That size will allow each RBL to be one meter apart. Having even 1M wires would get the RBLs almost two meters apart. For me that is still too much wire to deal with on the outside. I want them to hang nice and having some wire showing should be a good part of the "charm" of having giant light bulbs !

Virtually all controlers can group them. But in Xlights you can have a grouped and ungrouped definitions. So the grouped for quicker sequencing and the ungrouped for some effects. I think it might have been Eric who already mentioned this. Or I read it on one of the forums.

Agreed- I didnt think the job i had quoted would be the ideal- but gives a good sense of wha the price would be.
Want to add another pixel? Figure $0.50 more per assembly.
Want less lead wire? expect the same or slightly less price.

Some folks might actually want them hardwired together (no connectors), but for me, the connectors are worth it!

Re: REALLY BIG LIGHT <RBL> Mod with pixels

Originally Posted by Paul Lowe

Agreed- I didnt think the job i had quoted would be the ideal- but gives a good sense of wha the price would be.
Want to add another pixel? Figure $0.50 more per assembly.
Want less lead wire? expect the same or slightly less price.

Some folks might actually want them hardwired together (no connectors), but for me, the connectors are worth it!

Even tho I found the rectangles super cheap .. It's a screamin bargain to get them made up. We would still have to buy the pigtails and wires .. They will last twice as long as homemade solder joints. The Chinese seal everything nicely. How long before you want to place an order ? I am trying to get some parts for some quick testing .. :-)

Re: REALLY BIG LIGHT <RBL> Mod with pixels

Here is 6 rectangle pixels. I "bushed-up" the PVC to 1".
Any bigger and the lights wont mount through the hole on the lens/bulb.

Here's a topdown view. This spacing provides the best of the several options I tried.
You "might" squeeze a 7th pixel in there, but if you want an even #- this is the best combo i came up with.

I didn't know you had any pixels so I mocked them up with dumb rectangles. Here's mine. I did 5, 6, and 8 (from left to right in the picture). The 1/2" PVC can do 4 as shown in the video but I don't even want to consider 4.

Using 3/4" pvc you can do 5 or 6. And the 3/4" will snap onto the RBL clip easily. Just don't do it when the plastic is cold.

For the 8 rectangles I used the gray rigid PVC underground pipe, both 3/4" and 1" combined to make the holder. This pup has 24 LEDs. How can we not like that one ! Here's how: If you slightly sand the 3/4" it can be driven into the 1". I cut the 1" Gray PVC 3 3/4" long, then drove the 3/4" Gray PVC into it. Lastly I cut the 3/4" pipe so 2 1/2" is below the larger pipe. Total pipe length is 6 1/4" .. just long enough to stick past the square hole.

Also, I think these need a tiewrap to hold them against the clip.

One last design detail. If we do them with pixels, then we need a way to index the internal wand so that all the pixel number 1s end up in the same place (relative to the hook outside). Otherwise any timed effects will not look consistent across the bulbs. I plan to mark pixel number 1 and figure out how to get all the numbers 1s to line up in the same place once each. This can be done with the back sealed and the hook installed, before the globe is screwed on.

I plan to bring these to TASL unless anyone wants to see them sooner. I hope to have all three running tomorrow. But I have all my controllers torn apart, so getting a quick DMX might not be real quick. I had a quicky DMX adapter built into an XLR plug but it's dead :-( I'll have to run a pixel controller to output the DMX to one of my DUMB RGB controllers ..

Re: REALLY BIG LIGHT <RBL> Mod with pixels

Not sure what you guys did to get even 6 to lay nice and flat on a 1" PVC. I ordered 30 - 7 LED with pre made ends and I cant even get 6 to lay flat on the 1" PVC pipe... I may have to do a Coffee Saturday to show you and figure this out...

Re: REALLY BIG LIGHT <RBL> Mod with pixels

Originally Posted by Chris Gebhardt

Not sure what you guys did to get even 6 to lay nice and flat on a 1" PVC. I ordered 30 - 7 LED with pre made ends and I cant even get 6 to lay flat on the 1" PVC pipe... I may have to do a Coffee Saturday to show you and figure this out...

I am out of town this coming weekend but my guess is they changed the mold for the lights again. I remember Denny saying he used to be able to do so many but now has to do 1 less for a similar reason.